2008-02-11: Line Jump Brain Dump

Starring:

Jamie_icon.gif Kory_icon.gif McAlister_icon.gif Sophie_icon.gif

and guest starring Leslie_icon.gif the geek of a thousand names, now with new trust fund money!

Summary: A signing at a music store turns into something a lot weirder once the rowdy crowd bumps into Sophie.

Date It Happened: February 11, 2008.

Log Title Line Jump Brain Dump


Location - Times Square

Times Square. Even this evening, it's loud and crowded - but the day's tourists and suits have been replaced by the night's tourists and - well, let's be generous and call them 'New York City's Nightlife'. But no, the city that never sleeps is certainly not sleeping.

Tonight's a special event, though, over at Virgin Records: there's a line out of the door and around the building, roped off with ratty velvet rope while techno plays from within. Unf-chiss-unf-chiss-unf-chiss.

Sophie is a rubbernecker. She's still got that 'fresh off the farm' look to her, as she cranes her neck, trying to see the tops of the buildings.

Kory is on her way uptown, having a sort of dreamy wander, because it's getting close to Valentine's Day, and the nerds and geeks at the Lair are griping about what kind of women are bitches, and what kind of women are sluts, and what kind of women just won't give them a chance. It's all very depressing. And Kory is trying, because she promised Peter, that she'd try to get air, clear her mind, and stop being a gloom cookie. So the crowd piques her curiosity. And so does the techno beat. Because who doesn't like unf-chiss-unf-chiss-unf-chiss *clapclapclap*?

Right up the street, zig-zagging through the crowds, comes Jamie. Her small size and lack of adult accompaniment means she's not really visible in the crowds until people are right on top of her, but she manages to navigate well enough. The line and music attracts her attention, and the girl stops to stand just outside the roped off area, looking towards the door the music's coming from curiously.

Apparently, the glam club probably-isn't-a woman that wanders by, nose in the air and impossibly tiny toy poodle on a leash.

Doesn't stop the eager crowd snapping up albums as fast as the staff inside can get them on the shelf. Sometimes a new music opening is an /event/ - looks like this one's pulled out most of NYU and at least a handful of the terminally hipster bohemian sorts. Including, in fact, the blonde that crosses the Square as only a New Yorker can (that is to say, ignoring traffic and shouting back at cabbies with a definite Jersey lilt) - a woman who apparently figures sunglasses are a necessity, what with all this /neon/ around. "Christ. You'd think /one/ of you woulda learned to drive by now." Muttermuttergrumble.

Sophie is drawn toward the music, the crowd, like any other touristy college kid. Maybe she'll see a celebrity! Even one she'll recognize! She keeps her hands buried in her pockets, trying to move through the crowd in a way where she touches as few as possible, oddly enough.

A short-haired, lanky young man comes from the south of Times Square, glancing futilely around with an increasingly frantic expression. "Kore?" he calls, but the sound of the crowd and the very city itself swallows up his voice.

Kory watches the crowd, peeping and craning her neck, the better to see whose album it is being released. Or if she can see between teeming throngs who they are.

Jamie watches the head of the line curiously. Too curious, really. Waiting, watching a moment. Then she makes a dash for the door. There's really no chance she'll make it inside, she's not *that* small to go unnoticed, but she tries anyway, just out of pure curiosity.

… Chemical Brothers? Ohmy. No wonder there's a crowd - but there's no new album, just a monster single and the last couple pressings on sale. Looks like a signing in there.

There's a bouncer, of course - all good NYC street events have one. It's a union thing, likely - and while this particular one may be a bit on the older, round, and off-duty cop side, he's sufficient at least to stop a charging young lady, if nothing else. "Heeey. hold on there, girl. There's a line."

The blonde that's made it across the street bounds in the direction of the head of the line herself, a path that takes her /right/ past Sophie - her distinctive alto amused as she points out, "no way you're getting in the middle of that line. They'll tear you apart, ya know?"

Sophie turns, moving just in time to intersect the path of the running blonde. Very likely enough to run INTO her. Sophie automatically pulls hands from her pockets to try and cushion the blow.

Kory ahhhs. Chemical brothers. Good, sexy, beats. And a newish monster single? Plus a signing. Oh, yeah. Kory does a quick scan of the line to see if anyone she knows is in the line. "C'mon, Anzeti. Be there. Be there. Be there…"

Anzeti doesn't appear to be there, but that gangly young man has spotted Kory, and calls out to her "You are Sid Vicious to me, darling!" At which point he makes his way through the crowd and offers the person third in line a $100 to let him and Kory cut them. The person stares at him as if he's out of his mind, but takes him up on it. Gangly young man turns with a grin to Kory, and extends a hand. Kory apparently recognized the weird turn of phrase and came rushing toward him to fling a hug around his neck.

Jamie gives a sheepish look to the bouncer and says, "Well, had to try." She grins again and ducks back out from under the rope. She ends up right by Kory and that young man with her at the exchange, and says, "Hey, that's not fair."

WHUMP. The bouncing running-into-thing would likely have been more catastrophic except for the fact that the blonde isn't exactly of the large and imposing variety. As it ends up, it's mostly just a momentary tangle. "Hey, wha… watch out, huh?" Irritated, and rude - every native's right.

Of course, given where one of those hands end up, there's also a blink and a very wry, very amused, "And honey, honest, I don't swing that way, huh? You should try dinner first anyway."

The bouncer by the door shakes his head at the girl, calling after her - "Where's your mother?" But he makes no move to follow her. he's got a job, see.

Sophie would, ordinarily, be horribly embarassed, and likely a little ticked off at that. But the moment her hands make contact, she freezes. Eyes distant, she rises and she reaches out, "Where are you.. no. NO! Don't jump! Please, I didn't mean that!" She falls, as if tripped.. reaching for something that isn't there. She's lucky she didn't skin herself up badly.

Kory's gone a little glassy-eyed. Otherwise she might have reached for the falling Sophie. At the moment, she's leaning her head on the shoulder of the gangly young man, who's looking down his nose at Jamie. "Fair?" he asks with an offended sneer. "My life has never been fair. Not until now. Now I have the money to bring things over in my favor a bit. When you get as rich as I just got, you can do it too." He shrugs. "The guy could've said no to $100."

The person who is now fourth in line is cringing because everybody behind him shares Jamie's opinion. But the crazy man wanted to give him a hundred bucks, what was he supposed to do?!

Jamie stops outside the rope to look back at the bouncer. There's a flash of sadness on her face as she answers, "She died." Simple and honest. And, though she looks sad as she mentions it, it doesn't seem sharp enough to have been a recent loss. She doesn't, yet, drift far from the bouncer, standing just outside the rope. She's momentarily distracted by the crash that is Sophie's run-in, though she doesn't recognize the woman in the lighting and is soon distracted before she can concentrate long enough to do so, looking back up to the young man with Kory. "Still not fair," is all she can figure out to say, frowning.

"Uh." Ali stares, the blonde actually looking over her glasses and edging back from the now fallen woman. "… so. I'ma go /that/ way - " She points a few steps to the right, and edges that way. The mutter is audible, more than likely, "… and I thought tonight was gonna be normal. I shoulda known better."

The off-duty cop uhs - that simple statement from the girl throws him enough that even the woman throwing herself at the sidewalk doesn't get more than a bemused stare for the longest moment.

The /line/ starts looking on curiously. Crazy's always good for a look, right?

Usually it is. But the gangly young man has eyes only for Kory, and for the moment, she has eyes for him only. But then someone jostles her, and she blinks, as if knocked loose from a pleasant daydream. "Le—" she blinks, and shakes her head, trying to remember what he wants to be called this week. She frowns down at the little girl, as if disoriented. She realizes Leslie got them further up in line, and fall silent, smiling crookedly at him. "How…?"
"Mom left something out she didn't expect me to see. And now I've got access to the trust fund I was supposed to get access to six years ago!"

Fortunately, or not, Sophie is in no condition at the moment to notice how people are taking this. But it gets curiouser and curiouser. The police officer reaches down, "Are you alright, miss?" as he reaches for her hand to pull her to her feet. About the same time that the skinny boy gawking at Kory, trips over the flailing Sophie and has the misfortune of falling, half landing on her. Both with the strangest effect.

She's crossing the room - why is she going out onto the balcony?
What did you say - you told her. You told her - ohgod.
You told her to 'take a flying leap'…
She's standing on the balcony railing and it's your fault,
you told her to and she's going to jump -
and your heart pounds and you run "NO!" and you grab her
and you drag her down - the concrete shreds your knee
but the pain's remote and she's staring at you
and you almost KILLED HER and she's giving you a HOME,
what kind of monster would do that - oh /god/.
Her hands are skinned up and there's blood -

Leslie blinks, and starts to mumble an apology to Sophie, considering where his hands landed. He's blushing, and then he falls backward, arms reaching toward something only he can see. "NO!" he calls, half-sobbing, and reaches to wrap arms around — nothing? — before he falls forward, landing hard on one knee. At which point the sob repeats, and his eyes begin to well with tears.

Kory stares at Leslie with a stunned expression. It takes her a second to remember what nickname he's going by this week. "Solarfox?" That doesn't reach him. She ponders a second, then wincingly tries his real name. "Leslie?" Still nothing.

Jamie blinks, finally, looking back to Sophie as the others try to help her. She starts to step forward, "Sophie?" Then she takes a quick step back at the weirdness of the man she was talking to after he touches her.

Crazy is apparently very catching. The bouncer's not much better, eyes wide and lurching forward to fall on the sidewalk, pale and wheezing, skinning up his hand on the concrete as he lands.

The line, noting bouncer absence, does two things at once - a good bunch surge forward and in, now that the gatekeeper's thrashing. One, a decent samaritan, is already dialling 911. A few others are ducking out of line to help, and some are staring.

The blonde? Well, the blonde backs right up to the door, watching all of this over those sunglasses a bit helplessly. "… whoa."

Sophie is finished as quickly as she begins. Right about the time the others make contact. She looks around, dazedly at first, then with increasing anxiousness. When Jamie gets close, she reaches out a hand, at first, to say, "No, don.." then she quickly snatches that hand back, folding her arms around herself, "I can't touch anyone.." she mutters, breathing quickly, sounding like she's a hair from hyperventilating.

The crowd is starting to surge. Kory is caught in that rush, and separated from her companion. "Oh no…! Leslieeeeeee….!"

Sorry, Dr. Venkman. Ray that is, Leslie, has gone bye-bye. Or has he? He blinks, shaking his head, but still sobbing in horror of something only he can see. "Monster…" he whispers. "I'm a monster…"

Jamie blinks again, looking between Leslie and the bouncer and Sophie. To the latter she asks, "What's happening?" She keeps her distance now, though, but doesn't seem inclined to run away.

Ali watches, there at the door - and that bemused expression gives way to something a bit more incredulous, then oddly resigned. After a moment, a smile appears - lopsided and wry… and she starts down to start helping people up, joining the few from the line nice enough to try. Leslie's closest - he gets a "Hey, you okay?" in that distinctive alto, as she reaches for him.

But some of her attention remains on Sophie. Aware.

Sophie struggles to her feet. She gestures, well, with her elbow, "Its.. I think its alright now. Just need to keep back. She digs into her coat pockets, finding some gloves. Cold outside, right? She tries to ignore the other things happening around her.

Leslie gets to his feet, and brusquely drags his forearm across his eyes, embarrassed to have been crying like a fourth-grader in public. "Wh-what the hell happened?" He looks to Ali, confused and angry. "Where'd Kore go? K-Kore!" His voice goes frantic.

Kory, trying to be more laid back, got two copies of the single and autographs of same while the nuttiness was going on. So she comes out with a bag, and blinks. "What'd I miss?"

Jamie looks up to Kory and comments, "Your boyfriend was crying like a baby. Called himself a monster too." She looks back to Sophie and asks, "You ok?"

Ali gives him a sunny smile. "No clue. Who's Kore? I'm an Ali - not even close." A shrug, then, and she dusts him off. Unashamedly. Or tries to, anyway. "You'll be alright. Probably just nerves or something, huh? Nothing to worry about." There's a little extra emphasis on those last few words - something that goes with the smile: "You're not hurt, so you probably won't even be interested in thinking about it in an hour or two, huh?"

And she's already moving on, heading for the cop. "You are alright, right?" But that's for Leslie.

Kory blinks at Jamie. "He's just a friend," she says, frowning. "Crying?" She pushes her way through the crowd, though, worried at that. "Le—Solarfox?" Yes, the man likes to be referred to as Solarfox. Go figure.

"Kore's the girl I was with. Kory, that is. That's what everybody else calls her." A certain disdainful note there, as if 'Kore' is the only proper thing to call her. He gets dusted off as if she's his mother, and Leslie colors furiously from the tips of his ears on down. "Yeah…yeah, I…I guess you're right. Not worth—" And then Kory's at his shoulder. "There you are. Are you all right?"

"Me? I'm fine. What's all this about you crying and calling yourself a monster?" Kory asks, confusion writ large on her features.

"It …" he pauses, glances over his shoulder at Ali, then shakes his head again. "Nah. It was nothing." He brushes at his face again, embarrassment already fading in the warm glow of Kory's concern.

Whew, that was.. not as bad as it could be. Sophie seems to see it as a close call. Tugging on the gloves, she looks over herself, looking for any exposed skin (outside of her head), and tugging her clothes to make sure its covered.

Jamie still looks confused, looking up to Leslie. Apparently deciding it's ok, she steps over closer to Sophie now, though she still doesn't reach to touch the woman. "C'mon, what's going on?"

The blonde gives Leslie the oddest look, for a moment - but lets that pass, with a faint shrug. (Hey, live and let live - this is New York, right?) And she even spares the bouncer-cop a few words and a friendly pat on the arm… before she drifts Sophie's way. By the time she's doing that, she's rummaging through the bag on her shoulder, already asking - "You okay?" That she produces a simple business card out of that bag is a secondary concern at the moment. "I figured I'd broken somethin', ya know?"

Kory frowns between Leslie and Ali, then Leslie and Jamie. And finally the gaze settles with confusion on Sophie. "If you're sure, hon," Kory says to Leslie.

Leslie tilts his head at her, smiling. What strange evening. She's smiling at him like that. She called him 'hon'! It's a good evening, even if his knee does ache a little and his hands are skinned.

"Look at you. What, were you, brawling out here? Come on. Back to my place. We'll get you cleaned up." Kory reaches for Leslie's elbow, and with the other hand waves to hail a cab.

Sophie shakes her head, "I'm fine, I'm fine." she says, a little too quickly. It is aimed at both Jamie, and the blonde woman. She shrugs to Jamie, "I.. really don't know. I just tripped.." she murmurs, "I guess I made the other two fall down too." she glances to the business card, curiously.

Jamie blinks at Sophie's answer, "Oh. Ok. Then how come ya didn't want me to touch you?" She looks up at Ali then and says, "Hi." Her attention is soon back to Sophie, though.

The card is, at that point, offered to the woman - along with a sunny smile under those sunglasses. "I'm guessing yeah - clumsy of 'em." WYRK, the card says. Alyssa "Midnight" McAlister, DJ. The usual contact information applies. "I didn't figure my chest would cause that much trouble, yaknow?" There's a pause, then - an odd caution in the words, carefully chosen. "If you feel like it, it might be worth, you know. Calling sometime. And no, I'm not hitting on you - just. Looked like - " A shrug. "I dunno. I listen well, people tell me." She turns the smile on the kid - "Hi."

Sophie looks at the card, reading it. She looks up, nodding a moment, then says, "I.. well, not an interview, right?" then chuckles, a touch nervously, "NOt that I'm famous or anything. But.. maybe I will, sometime." she adds, with a chuckle, "I wouldn't think that, either. The hitting thing." Then she has to turn to Jamie, "I, I don't know. I mean, its weird, its like stuff like this happens.. after people touch me." she sighs, "I guess that sounds crazy."

Jamie giggles a little at Sophie's last words, laughing at the 'sounds crazy' rather than the explanation, and says, "No it don't. Not to me." She looks back towards the bouncer, since Leslie's long gone, and then looks back to Sophie and Ali. Then the reference to an interview sinks in, and she blinks, asking Ali, "You a reporter?"

"Nope, kiddo." Ali rearranges junk in that bag, and tugs it closed. "I've been on the wrong side of the news too much to want to shove that on somebody else, right?" She laughs, and holds out a hand. "I'm Ali." And she adds, glancing to Sophie - "I don't really do interviews, you know?"

Sophie hesitates, visibly. She glances down at the now-gloved hand, then takes Ali's. She looks relieved. "Ok, not that anyone would want to hear about me. I'm just going to college, after all."

Jamie ohs, and nods a little to Ali, "Ok." Then she adds after the introduction, even though it wasn't aimed at her, "I'm Jamie." She looks to Sophie again and says, "You're cool. Even if you ain't famous yet." She glances towards the line again, but doesn't make any effort to join or get inside again, still standing there.

"Well, it's good meetin' you, Jamie - " That hand's offered to theg girl, next, Ali smiling. "You know her, huh?" It's a curious question.
Sophie relaxes a bit, smiling at Jamie. "Well, thanks. I never thought I was that cool." she breaks into a laugh, "I'm studying to be a librarian. But nice that you think so." she glances at the line too. "I wonder if its a good cd.."

Jamie shakes the offered hand, smiling again up to Ali. Unlike Sophie, she has no hesitation in doing so, of course. "Yep. Met a bunch of times, and she paid to get a painting made of me once." Then to Sophie's question she nods quickly, "Gotta be, or so many people wouldn't be lined up."

"It is. You guys should grab a copy." And Ali shoulders that bag - "I gotta get in there; we have a remote, and I'm late already. But hey, good meeting both of you, right?" She grins. "no more flopping around on the sidewalk."

Sophie nods to that. "Ok, I can do that, and.. she looks at her hands, "I hope that won't be happening again.'

Jamie looks even more curious at that but then she nods and waves a little, "Ok. Bye." She must figure she'll soon see what Ali's talking about, as she then tries to grab Sophie's gloved hand so she can tug the woman towards the line, "C'mon, let's get in line!"

And Ali moves for the door - patting the bouncer on the arm as she goes, shaking her head once. But that's enough - there's work, you see - and a chemical brothers signing.

Sophie breaks into a chuckle, following. She still quickly glances at her hand, as if to make sure the glove didn't fall off.


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